Seoul issues verbal intervention to calm Korean financial markets

Seoul issues verbal intervention to calm Korean financial markets

The South Korean government on Friday intervened verbally in hopes to calm the domestic financial markets under unusual rout from geopolitical tensions as leaders of Washington and Pyongyang ratcheted up their saber-rattling.

“We will act promptly to any market volatility from new provocations from North Korea,” said the government Friday after senior officials from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance met with the Financial Services Commission, Bank of Korea and other economy-related offices.

The Korean markets that had mostly shrugged off military tensions from North Korea rocked after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang of “fire, fury and powers the world has never seen before” on Tuesday following the threat from the North Korean foreign minister to teach the U.S. a “severe lesson with its nuclear strategic force.”

The tit-for-tat turned more specific and violent with Pyongyang issuing statements the following days detailing out plans to target waters near Guam mid-August.

The finance ministry warned that even a small event may agitate the market amid the growing geopolitical uncertainty, adding that the government will constantly monitor the situation and take prompt measures to manage volatility in the Korean financial markets.